The Dickinson press., 1887-12-24
THE OLD LOG CABIN.
A HooSIER PIONEER DESCRIBES
THE OLD HOME.

THE OLD HOME.
A House Built Without Brick, Nail,
Plank, Glass or S~hinglc-The Internal
Fitting Up Both Economical and In
genious-Only One Room.
The ordinary log cabin was about eighteen
feet square. In rare cases it contained more
than one ROOM, as a general rule but one. 1t
was built Of round logs or poles. sometimes,
though not often. dressed oil IL little after its
erection. IL was one story high, covered with
clapboards about four feet long, split out of
oak timber, which, instead of being nailed
down, were kept i'll their places by heavy
pieces of timber called weight poles" which
were kept at suitable distances apart 10y the
use of small sticks of wood called knees"
Tn boards rested on logs eNteliiing from one
end of the building to the other, each one
ascending higher than its predecessor, as the
gable Went up, thus giving I" the roof the
right pitch. These were called ribs except
the one forming the apex of the root, which
was called the ridge pole" To prevent the
first tier of boards from sliding off, there was
placed on each side n split log for them to
rest against called the Quitting pole" These
rested OH the ends of logs projecting out from
the corners of the house, called leaves
bearers"
When any floor other than that provided
by nature was used it was made of large
slabs split out of poplar or ash trees, and
dressed off Oh one side as smoothly as was
practicable with a broad AK. This was called
a ''puncheon" floor, and was ut first confined
to families of aristocratic pretcnsions, but
o,n1,n11,- =, ~ ~n,o,.,1 49,, nlo,.N ,,.D-
but one door, the shutter to which was made
of clap boards and hung Oh wooden hinges,
with a latch on the inside of the same ma
terial, to which was attached n leather string,
which, through u small aperture in the shut
ter, was made to hang invitingly on the out
side; the trueSt indication OF genuine hos
pitality being the fact that 1.-The latch string
was out Generally there was one window,
made by cutting out the upper and under
halves Of two n%oighboring logs. and filling
the space made vacant with CREASED paper,
often such as had been written on at school.
The lower part of the chimney was built of
thick lcwed pieces of timber, or heavy slabs,
lined on the inside with a thick coat of clay,
of which material the hearth WIS also made.
The upper part was built of small split pieces
of timer about the size of n common lath,
and mortar made of clay and straw, the i'll
side being smoothed off with the hands of the
builder So as to cover up the wood as far us
possible. 1t was n nice job to build one of
these chimneys, and the man who succeeded
well in it became n considerable man in tho
community, and exceedingly popular with
the women, who were then us now bitterly
opposed to smoky chimneys."
The openings between the logs We're stopped
with small pieces of split timber called
"chinks," to which was added mortar made of
omnon clay, put on with the hands of the
worlmen. No cabin was ever considered
finished until it was "chinkel' and "daubcd."
Not u brick, nail, plank, glass or sLingle was
used in one of these curly homes of our fore
fathers, and such Il thing as paint or wall
paper was not dreamed of. The internal
fitting up was quite rs economical and ill.,
genious. On one side Of the spacious fireplace,
Just under the window l have described, was
set u small table, sometimes brought by the
family from their old home, but generally
made on the spot out of slabs and clapboards
attached to each other. A few shelves in the
opposite corner answered the purpose of Il
cupboard in which to put away the pewter
ware. Near the door, perhaps at the side of
the window, was suspended over a piece OF
paper pasted on the wall a Very useful and
ingenious contrivance pronounced 'huzzeff, .
in which were stuck the pins and needles of
the family, and in the capacious pockets of
which the entire family Of combs, big and
little, coarse and fine. together with an end
less variety of other small "traps,' were de-
posted. Above this, i'll exceptional cases
where the parties We're rich, n small looking
glass was perclied.
In most cases there were three beds in the
room, i'll which there was no partition, one in
each corner with its feet toward the fireplace,
and one placed crosSwise between them. On
the wall behind the beds was hung the entire
wearing apparel of the family, from the old
est to the youngest, including that of tht
daughters whose claim to the favor of til,
young gentlemen depended on the extent O.
their wardrobe, as well as the spun wool, fla,
and tow of which they could boast, all o
which, suspended from the joists above, theil
judicious mothers proudly exhibited to the al
miring gaze of their suitors us SO many evi
dences of their matrimonial fitness. These
were sensible mothers OF course theil
daughters did not remain long in the market
TO use Il commercial phrase, they wert
taken"
Just over the door rested the much needed
rifle; and OH u rack suspended from the .ioist
in front of the fireplace were hung up to dr.,
any quantity of Yankee pumpkins, cut GU
in rings, resembling miniature wagon wheel
without hubs or spokes. In the %"loft," as i
was called, were stored away the sage AM
catnip Of the women and the hickory nut
and walnuts Of the junior Hoosiers. On the out
side wall were stretched the skins of diver
"varnlints,n and in the chimney corner
under a few projecting boards, the plow an
gear were laid away to rest. Though thi
description is believed to be u fair one of thi
class of pioneer homes throughout the west
it is taken from one erected by my parent
near Centerville, in Wayne county, i'll whic1
they spent the morning of their married lives
and in which l was born. God bless the dea
old place! The log cabin was III unpreter
tious home. 1t was the best, however, til
pioneer ut the time could command, and Il
was content. 1t was no place for the exhib
ton of pride or style. Neither was rate
very high in these early homes of our mlcc
tors. Combining the parlor, sitting room
bed room, dining room and kitchen in or
room, it was sufficient for all purposes. If
neighbor family was to he entertained thel
If there was to be n log rolling or corn hus
ing, the whole neighborhood turned out, i
Guiding the women, who went to help coo
and the room was ample. II there was to
wool picking or quilting, to which the mi
were sometimes invited, especially the your
and unmarried ones, the room was abunda.
and everything was lovely.-Judge j..
Julian at Boone County (Ind.) Old Settler
Meeting.
A wuNi Echtc ~oNNeo AMMAN